About me

Some of my favourite stories and plays start by telling you the tragic ending - Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Hamilton... still you root for the protaganists and hope for a different ending - maybe the priest's letter arrives, or Juliet wakes up, Satine recovers, or Burr misses...

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I am a young* widow, living through the grief of having loved and lost my husband Chris, when I was 45.  This blog is a series of ramblings about our love, his illness, my loss, grief, the support of other young widows and learning to live again. I once told my story to a journalist, and realised that I need to tell it in my own words, and I need more than 500 of them to do it justice. I have also found that writing my grief is a therapetic exercise that helps me look at where I have come from and where I am going.

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I don't have any answers, but I hope to share some of the lessons learned along the way as well as some of the music we loved, and pictures of the beach.

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Why Red Kites and Beaches?  Wel, Red Kites often soared above our homes in Reading and whatever we were doing, we would stop to watch them.  Now when I or my older daughter see a Red Kite we think of Chris. When I started my business, I named it after these birds, because they mademe think of him. And the beach is where we now live (well, next to one, not on one!)  I think if he were ever looking for me, he would start at the beach.

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*Defined as being widowed before 50.  There are many widows much younger than me.

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